


Family

by Sanriah



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anal, Arguments, Character Death, Fluffy, Harry and Draco co-parenting, Harry makes an accidental offer and blunders ahead anyway, M/M, Not Epilogue Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 11:41:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14472009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanriah/pseuds/Sanriah
Summary: Draco makes an unbreakable vow that changes his life forever.





	Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, wrote this for a prompt from my HP fic writing group "three characters and a baby" It's my first one so please be nice! Have fun.

        "I won't let you die!" Draco screamed. All around him the battle raged, all anguish and folly. They were half hidden by what used to be a perfectly functional wall; it was a bit of an alcove, eerily calm and fortified, shielded with what spells his exhausted mind could dredge up from defense class. She coughed out a derisive laugh, blood bubbling out of her lips in a sick dribble that made his gut clench. Forgettable brown hair clung to her cheek and dust from the wall, destroyed by a particularly strong _reducto_ , covered them both causing the blood to look even more stark in contrast.

        "Don't be an idiot, cousin. I don't have long. Remus is already gone...my only regret...Teddy...my son."  
Nymphadora, no Tonks, he'd heard somewhere she preferred her muggle sounding surname, trailed off, eyes going distant. A lifetime ago he might have sneered. Not now. Now he's surrounded by pain and death sitting next to a dying cousin he never knew. Never knew because of things that he's come to realize, much, much too late, don't matter. Tonk's eyes widen momentarily, a brief spark returning. She reaches for his hand and he gives it to her freely. He's so tired. His insistence that she not die had been more for him than her, he didn't want to see any more death. His regret that he hadn't known her better, or had even made an effort, was distant in comparison to the horrors he'd both endured and witnessed this last year. His father brought low by his groveling and bad decisions, the Dark Lord's constant presence. The torture. His muscles still ached from a casual _cruciatus_ , thrown to prove a point. That he was powerless. He had been stumbling around blindly after being saved by Potter in the room of requirement. He'd tried to stop Crabbe, but, no, he didn't want to think about that. Not now. Dazed, stumbling, having reached what had to be his breaking point, he'd found his cousin bleeding out. 

        "Draco. Draco Malfoy. It shouldn't be you. This is all wrong...but I have to pray that Mom was right. That you aren't just your father's child. She said before she died...Narcissa was the kindest of her sisters....of course that's..." At this point she let out another of those derisive coughs, Draco had seen enough die now to know she was close; he felt his own blood chill in his veins at his inability to do something, anything. Tonks continued, "not saying much with that bitch, Bellatrix. I don't have much choice though... things... don't look so good." Tonks hair switched colors sluggishly, he knew she wasn't controlling it, didn't even seem to notice. "Teddy...I need to make sure he'll be ok. I... don't know who's going to survive and who isn't. Harry...I believe he'll stop Voldemort...I have to believe...but I don't know if he'll survive it. He's Teddy's godfather. My parents are dead and I don't trust yours farther than I can throw them and I couldn't throw an ant right now...if there's anything half decent in you, please... get to Teddy and keep him safe. You're not some...brave Gryffindor. You'll run because you're a coward... that's what I'm counting on. If we don't win. If... somehow... Voldemort wins...you take Teddy, and you run. You keep running, Draco Malfoy. And if we win...make sure he's looked after, with someone who will love him. Please." Her eyes go dim again, looking off to where Professor Lupin's body lay.

        Draco shivered, unable to look away from her. He was a coward, yes, it was true and he almost ran then, left the dying woman and the responsibility she tried to pile on him, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the fire in Potter's green eyes, the determination to follow it through even if it ended him. Perhaps the determination his cousin must have felt, to be here at this seemingly futile battle when the world had already gone mad instead of running with her family like any sensible person and damn loyalty.... maybe....it was that for all his sensible Slytherin sensibilities they had ended up here in the same place and she had taken his hand. And Potter had saved him. Draco squared his shoulders.

        "I promise."

With those words, magic coursed through him, fueled by force of will and a deathbed promise. The power settled around their joined hands as she died and the weight of the unbreakable vow sealed itself in his very soul.

 

+

 

        Harry was exhausted. He was dirty, his body ached. The sheer number of people surrounding him, congratulating him on his victory, only made the pressure on his head, in his heart, worse. They were dead...so many dead. The castle, the only home he'd ever known, a literal war zone. Hermione was with Ron, holding him while he sobbed into her neck as they stood, arms wrapped tight, swaying in a horrifying parody of dance, near the fallen Weasley. It was like that everywhere here; people in shock, mourning, getting treated for injuries. He supposed in a distant sort of way, that he was in shock, too. He had died. He had been dead. And he had chosen to come back. Lucius Malfoy was in the corner, someone had cast an _incarcerous_ on Lucius and the other remaining Death Eaters. Narcissa remained free to search for Draco. Harry had insisted. She was the reason he'd been able to fool Voldemort, after all. She had been unable to find her son in the wreckage of the castle. All Harry knew was that Malfoy had been alive when he'd last seen him. Harry sat,or rather collapsed, next to Tonks and Remus. Someone had laid them next to each other and he was grateful for that at least. The sheer tragedy of their passing, like his own parents', left Teddy an orphan so young.

        Harry shot up, adrenaline coursing through his veins with dizzying suddenness. His godson. Where was his godson? Tonks' parents were gone, pretty much the entire Order was here at the battle. What safe place would she have left him to go and fight with her husband. Shell Cottage? No, Bill and Fleur were here with the rest of the Weasley clan, they wouldn't have left Teddy alone. Grimmauld Place...no, why would she leave him there, it wasn't safe. Although, maybe it was. Tonks had Black blood and Grimmauld Place was the traditional Black ancestral home. She always liked to joke the house and its wards had always seemed to recognize her in some way. Hermione had remarked that if Harry had been a Black by blood rather than just Sirius' godson, they could have relied on the wards rather than abandon Grimmauld during the Horcrux hunt. Blood wards went deeper even than the fidelius, for all the pure blood bullshit out there, there was a nugget of Truth. Staying with blood relations had protected him most of his life, at least during the summers. Maybe Tonks banked on the blood wards closing in and protecting Teddy, fortifying the house against those that could mean him harm. It would have been a risk... with Bellatrix, at the time, still alive and Narcissa's loyalty to her husband... but with Teddy being Harry's godson and Harry having been Sirius' godson and heir of the home... maybe it had been worth the risk in Tonk's mind. Putting faith in her gut instinct, then running after the man she loved, to fight at his side.

 

Harry figured it was worth a shot at least and pushed his way through the crowd. He thought he heard someone calling his name, Ginny maybe, but he couldn't stop. Not until he found Teddy and made sure he was safe.

 

+

 

        Harry had his wand out, a dim _lumos_ lighting the hall of Grimmauld place. He'd cast a _silencio_ the second he'd stepped through the door, so he could deal with both the portrait of Walburga Black and the unfortunate Dumbledore apparition, set up to scare away intruders by the Order. Now, he moved as quietly as he could through the rooms. 

        "Master is coming back," said Kreature, not quite yelling but not keeping quiet either, having appeared seemingly from nowhere. Harry cursed himself for forgetting Kreature, but Dobby's death, like many, was still fresh and weighed heavily on him. Kreature's newfound, almost pleasant, regard for Harry was still so new that he had forgotten about him again.

        "Kreature!" said Harry in a low but urgent tone, "Did Tonks come by? Did she leave Teddy in your care? I need to know."

Kreature nodded seriously "Mistress Nymphadora left the young Master in Kreature's care. Kreature does not like young wizards. They poke Kreature in the eye and pee on Kreature's garment." Through the haze of relief Harry did note Kreature did look a bit worse for wear even by the elderly elfs generally low standards. Before Harry could ask Kreature which room he had set Teddy up in, Kreature continued, "Thankfully, Kreature was relieved by the young Master’s death appointed guardian."

        "His what?" asked Harry. Just when he had barely begun to relax, he was back on alert once more. 

        "House elves know these things. Mistress Nymphadora must have passed on, because a promise has been made. An unbreakable vow made strong by shared blood. Master Malfoy will care for the young Master or die.”

        "Mal..." Harry took the steps two at a time, shoving his head into rooms looking for Teddy. Why would Malfoy be here? Unbreakable vow? Tonks. Shit. Harry stopped dead in his tracks, Unable to believe his eyes. There, in the bed Harry had used during most of his time at Grimmauld place, sat Draco Malfoy. Fast asleep, he looked like he'd come here straight from the battle. There were obvious tracks down his soot and dust coated cheeks, left by tears long since dried. In his arms and equally fast asleep, apparently perfectly content to be there, was Teddy Lupin.

 

+

 

        "No, Harry, you have to cradle his head like this." Narcissa, as she'd insisted he call her, adjusted his arms gently, to be more supportive of Teddy's head. If Harry was being honest with himself, something he was trying to do more these days, holding Teddy terrified him. He was so... small. Every time Teddy cried, Harry's first instinct was to assume he'd somehow done something to hurt him. It didn't help that Malfoy came running every time Teddy so much as made an unhappy noise. Malfoy. Narcissa and Draco. It had been two months since the two of them had officially moved in to Grimmauld Place. Harry had spoken at both of their trials but Lucius had been sentenced to life in Azkaban, mainly due to Narcissa's testimony. It seemed her ever present loyalty to her husband had been unequivocally shattered when he had forced the dark mark on Draco. Allowed the mad man to give him that fool’s mission. Out of all of them, only Severus had cared enough to vow to keep Draco safe. Something his own father should have done. Following her testimony, she had filed for and received a divorce, taking back her Black surname. Malfoy manor had been seized by the Ministry along with the Malfoy accounts at Gringotts. She had her, much smaller, Black inheritance but Harry, in a fit of pure insanity, had offered her a place at Grimmauld. It had been her ancestral home after all, and Teddy was her nephew. Besides, Harry was already stuck with Malfoy anyways. He wasn't about to let Malfoy take Teddy away, unbreakable vow or no, Teddy was Harry's ward, legally, as detailed in Tonk and Remus' wills, but Harry also wasn't going to accidentally kill Malfoy by keeping him from fulfilling an unbreakable vow he hadn't meant to accept. So, now here they were. Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, and Narcissa Black. Living in Grimmauld Place. Together. All to take care of one Teddy Lupin.

 

+

 

        It was difficult. Difficult was a good word for it, if Harry were feeling charitable. In the months that followed, Narcissa had taken the reins. Using money that Harry provided from his own vaults and her own, they turned Grimmauld Place from a dark, doxy infested cave, to a shockingly warm and inviting home. Harry had to admit, it was now the sort of place he’d be proud to raise Teddy in. It should have been a relaxing place to deal with the aftermath of the war, and it was, almost. The problem was Malfoy. Fucking Malfoy. Everytime Harry tried to get back from auror training early so he could tuck Teddy in Malfoy had already done it. Getting Teddy’s bottles ready? Harry always made them too cold, or too hot. He blew up bottles in the muggle microwave, forgot to turn on burners on the stove. Malfoys scathing comments didn’t help. “Potter, move out of the way and let someone who isn’t inept deal with it,” and, “Potter, you’re holding his head wrong,” and let’s not forget, “Potter, he’s hungry, not tired.” Every time Harry thought of the git’s dumb face, frowning and annoyed, it wore deeper and deeper into Harry’s, admittedly, small pool of patience.

        Harry had thrown himself into training and Teddy’s care with fervor. He listened and watched Narcissa and Draco with Teddy diligently, trying to learn as much as he could. No matter how much he tried, it just couldn’t come naturally. He didn’t know what to do with a child. The idea terrified him. Not just dealing with Teddy as an infant, but with Teddy growing up. What could he, the product of a war, of the Dursley’s abuse, do with a child? He wanted to give Teddy, a fellow orphan, the sort of childhood he never had, but he had no idea where to start. Added into those feelings, the guilt he carried for the death of Remus and Tonks, misplaced or not; it left his interactions with his young godson stunted and awkward despite his desire to help.

 

+

 

        Narcissa watched the growing tension between her son and Harry with a mixture of unease and amusement. She supposed she shouldn’t have been shocked. All Draco had been able to talk about was Harry Potter when he was a child. He’d been enamored by the story of The Boy Who Lived much to Lucious’ annoyance. After first year though, he’d grown angry at any mention of Harry Potter and was quick with his insults. It wasn’t until Draco’s second year she finally got him to tell her why. Harry Potter had refused his hand when he’d offered friendship. She’d tried, delicately, to explain to Draco that young Harry had grown up with muggles. He certainly wasn’t used to the kind of pureblood politics and Slytherin maneuvering that Lucious was training Draco for. She knew part of Draco was hurt, but she also knew that Draco just couldn’t fathom why someone would pick a Weasley over a Malfoy. Narcissa had respect for pureblood traditions and wizarding culture and history but she didn’t share the same prejudices as her ex-husband, though muggles and their ways did confuse her. She’d tried her best to subtly teach her son alternate views. Nothing, however, seemed to change Draco’s mind about Harry Potter.

        She supposed she couldn’t blame Harry for his attitude towards Draco, no doubt her son had instigated much of the strife between them because of the childhood slight. Now, though, there was a child involved. Teddy Lupin. He was an adorable little thing, completely unaware of the strife between his two primary caregivers.

        Looking up from her breakfast tea she observed Harry who was feeding Teddy under Draco’s watchful gaze. His wild black hair looked even more mussed than usual and he was a bit pale with nerves as he fed the small boy. Her own son was clenching his hands at his sides to keep from taking Teddy from Harry and doing it himself. She worried for her son. Caring for Teddy had become a sort of obsession for him. What the war did to him, to all of them, was not easy to face. Her concern was that he was running and not facing it at all.

        “Give him here Potter he’s going to get gas if you end up tilting the bottle like that, and I’ll have to deal with him because you don't know how.” Draco’s tone was scathing.

        “I’m doing my best Malfoy. If you would make more effort to show me instead of yelling at me I might be able to get it. He’s my godson. You only have a connection to him because of the vow, that I’d be subjecting myself to this every day If I didn’t know sending you away might cause the vow to kill you? You don’t have to be a bloody git about it.” Harry’s face had gone from pale and nervous to flushed and angry, having finally reached the boiling point.

        “Oh yes, I forgot. We should all bow down in gratitude to Harry Potter, Man Who Lived Twice, defeater of evil, a man so gallant he takes in Death Eaters and tolerates them. I should feel grateful for the charity shouldn’t I? That the great Harry Potter allows me under his roof, allows me to help raise my own blood relative! Excuse me, I must have gone and forgotten my place again!”

        “Boys! I certainly wouldn’t call you men right now. You’re upsetting Teddy.” Narcissia’s tone was cool and measured, a stark contrast to their increasingly loud angry voices. It was the only thing that would have given either Harry or Draco pause. They both looked down at Teddy who had his face screwed up in an expression they all knew very well, one that foretold an ear piercing wail. Narcissa moved forward and lifted Teddy, humming at him until he seemed to calm.

        “You both need to deal with this.” they both seemed to flinch under her gaze. Good. “I’ll be taking Teddy to run some errands today and this had better be dealt with by the time I get back.”

 

+

 

        “Your Mum’s a bit scary.” Said Potter, into the awkward silence left in the wake of Narcissa’s absence. Draco frowned, trying to decide whether to be insulted or not, given his mother’s parting words he seemed to err on taking it as a compliment. He supposed Potter was right, she was a bit scary when she’d been pushed too far. The silence stretched.

        “I’ll send Robards an owl, this is more important than training.” Draco watched Potter leave, blinking. Potter never put off training, he seemed to throw himself into it with the same fervor that Draco threw into caring for Teddy. Draco guessed Potter was taking his mother’s warning to heart. The blond sighed and moved to find the kettle, if they were going to do this he might as well make tea. Potter came back into the kitchen as Draco was finishing up.

        “Thanks” said Potter, taking a cup. Draco nodded. They sat in silence again, neither seeming willing to break first. Eventually Potter huffed out a breath and sat his cup aside, looking at Draco.

        “You’re excellent with Teddy. I’m not sure if I’ve said it in so many words. I suppose I’ve been a bit resentful. It doesn’t come naturally to me like it does you. I try to watch you and your mum with him but I always seem to bugger it up somehow and your comments don’t exactly help. You can be a right git sometimes but I expect you know that. Pretty much everything you’ve ever said to me from the moment we met was calculated to piss me off. It wouldn’t be a problem, that we don’t get along, but we have Teddy now. Even if it weren’t for the unbreakable vow I expect we would have had to share him to some degree; he’s your blood kin but he’s also my godson. As it is...your mum’s right, we need to come to some sort of truce. Teddy is young now but eventually he’ll be old enough to see us fighting and I don't want that for him.” Potter seemed to run out of words, and took a sip of tea instead, eye’s never leaving Draco’s cool greys.

        “Is it Gryffindor idiocy that lets you make speeches like that with a straight face? You wouldn’t know calculation if it gripped you by the bollocks.” Despite his words, Draco was a bit thrown off by Potter’s stark honesty.

        “Who said laying all your cards on the table wasn’t calculating Malfoy, it’s about results isnt it?”

        “Shockingly Slytherin of you Potter.”

        “I was almost sorted Slytherin.” retorted Potter. There was another stretch of silence, Draco searching Potter’s face for signs of deception.

        “That would have been...interesting.” replied Draco. He remembered how if felt, wounds from his childhood that had festered. A hand not taken. Potter sorted Slytherin, imagine if they’d have been dorm mates. Potter laughed, seemingly amused at Draco’s understatement.

        “Follow me Potter.” Draco got up from the table, heading upstairs to the room that had been designated his, it was on the same floor as Teddy’s.  
        “Not that I’m not flattered Malfoy but I’m not sure now’s the right time.” Said Potter, looking around Draco’s room with apparent interest. Draco felt his mouth open, and for longer than he’d like as he seemed to have forgotten how to close it. Did Potter just, had he, was Potter…? Potter caught Draco’s expression and laughed again.

        “I’m just joking Malfoy.”

        “No,” said Draco, fumbling a little, trying to keep his cheeks from flushing at his sudden ineptitude, “I didn’t realize you were bent.”

        “Really?” asked Potter, looking surprised “I thought everyone knew.”

        “Why would you think that?” snapped Draco, his composure returning “the entire wizarding world doesn’t wait with baited breath to hear your personal details.”

        “Gods Malfoy I wish that were true. It’s not like I intended to come out on the front page of the Prophet. I thought about suing for invasion of privacy but Hermione said I could legally be considered a public figure and therefore not able to sue over reporting of personal information if said information was discussed in public.”

        “Excuse me?”

        “I told Ginny I realized I was gay, while I was looking for ways to destroy Voldemort, and that was why we couldn’t get back together. I should have known better than to tell her in public, she’s got her mother’s temper, started screaming at me and well...it became the next day’s front page. She felt awful after and we decided on friends, she’s seeing Neville now you know? But what’s done is done.”

        “I see” There was another long silence as Draco processed this new information. It was a lot to deal with at once. Longbottom was getting laid, Potter was gay, next he’d learn Weasley did something other than stuff his face.

        “So...Malfoy. Why is it you’ve led me to your bedroom then?” asked Potter, his expression was still infuriatingly amused.

        “Oh. Just. Here” Draco pulled out a pile of books and handed them to Potter, who took them with a sort of “Ooph” noise as he adjusted to the weight of the pile. “They're books.”

        “So I gathered.” Said Potter sounding both dry and slightly strained.

        “Books on child care.” Draco admitted. “I’m not naturally good with Teddy...as soon as I could I had these special ordered and I studied them as much as I could. Every time I got a chance.”

        “Oh.” Said Potter, as if the one word could speak volumes. “Why didn’t you…”

        “Because I resented you, you great prat. You tolerate my presence because the vow could kill me otherwise, you go off to Auror training and then come back and expect to just be able to figure out how to handle a child from some minor observation, you could have done the same thing you know, gotten books, studied, but here I am, raising your godchild and you treat me like…”

        “Like Draco bloody Malfoy, the same git who made my school life hell.”

        “I rather thought the Dark Lord had that market cornered.”

        “You didn’t help.”

        “Well you certainly gave as good as you got, following me around and all that, it was bloody infuriating.”

        “I was right though, you were up to something.”

        “Didn’t mean you had to nearly kill me for it!”

        “You were about to use an unforgivable on me!”

        “If you didn’t know what the bloody spell did you shouldn’t have…” Draco was cut off by Potter dumping the books on his bed and giving him the same piercing look he had earlier.

        “No, you’re right, I shouldn’t have. Both of us have a lot to atone for Malfoy. Why do you think I’m becoming an Auror? Don’t you think I’m tired? Don’t you think I want to read fucking childcare books and take care of Teddy and deal with...everything? The inside of my head is a bloody mess. I killed someone Malfoy. Voldemort needed to be stopped but did anyone ask if I wanted to become a murderer, no matter that exparalarimus isn’t usually a killing spell. And, what about the rest? Tonks and Lupin, Sirius, so many others? Do you think I’m in training because I want to keep fighting? I’m in training so that...maybe more don’t have to die, and because I need to do something.”

        “You don’t think I don’t know what I am Potter? I know I’m a coward. Nymph...Tonks, my cousin, said as much. Said it shouldn’t be me but she didn’t have much time or choice. But this is all I have. Teddy is all I have, all I can do. You’re becoming an Auror...I take care of Teddy Lupin. I think. I think a part of me was afraid to let you get good at taking care of Teddy. The vow will be appeased if it's you, she only meant for me to care for Teddy until I found someone that would care for him sufficiently. Once you've read those books, gotten better with him, what will I have?”

        “Teddy is more than just atonement.”

        “I know, Potter. I’m not heartless. It took less than a week for him to become more to me than that, but I still don’t have anything else.”

        “Stay.”

        “What?”

        “When the vow has been fulfilled, I want you to stay here. With me, and your mum too if she decided to keep staying here. I’ll make an unbreakable vow if you want, I won’t make you leave. Teddy deserves a big family who loves him, all the things that I...didn’t have. It’s not what I thought it would be, but we can do that. We can be a family Draco.” Potter’s face wasn’t amused anymore, it was deadly serious and what’s more, it was a bit vulnerable. Part of Draco, old habits die hard, wanted to lash out at Potter. Wanted to punish him for taking the conversation there. For forcing him to swallow the sheer emotion because the room was filled with it, because they were drowning and it was the only thing left to breathe. Was Potter suggesting? Was he asking Draco to…? If Draco was being painfully honest, he can’t pretend he’d never noticed how attractive Potter was, and he’d only gotten more so with his Auror training, adding muscle and confidence that had made Draco stare more than once. Still, thinking the prat was attractive and now finding out he liked blokes to….marriage. It really was very sudden. On the other hand...what did Draco have to lose if he accepted...Harry’s proposal. Who else but the Chosen One would be crazy enough to marry a bent ex Death Eater? And, it’s not as if he cared anymore about carrying on the Malfoy family line. He’d stopped caring about that around the same time he’d watched the Dark Lord’s wretched snake eat the Muggle Studies professor on his dining room table. Would it really be so bad? Potter...Harry...didn’t seem to hate him despite their many arguments. Draco certainly wouldn't be board. And the sex. If it was anything as heated as their arguments then there certainly wouldn’t be a problem there. Draco felt his cheeks heat at the prospect.

 

+

 

        “Malfoy?” asked Harry. “Earth to Draco?” he said, moving his hand in front of Malfoy’s face. He was just sort of standing there dumbly and...blushing? Maybe Slytherin’s didn’t handle genuine emotion well? Maybe he should have channeled Hermione and made his arguments from a more logical standpoint rather than just barreling in and saying what was on his mind the way he usually did. What exactly had he said that seemed to embarrass Malfoy?

        All at once Malfoy seemed to come back to reality rather than continue staring off into space. It took Harry a moment to figure out what was so odd about Malfoy’s face. He was smiling. Really smiling. Harry couldn’t say that he’d ever seen Draco do much more than scowl or grimace. It looked good on him. In fact, it looked really good. Harry felt something like a slide through his system, a shock of interest he’d never expected to feel. Ever. So when Draco Malfoy stepped up to him, hesitated, then slid arms around Harry’s neck and met his eyes, it was no wonder he felt need instead of surprise.

        “Yes, alright Harry. Yes. If you’re sure.” Harry felt he was possibly missing something but he had no idea what it could have been. All he knew is that there was suddenly a very warm and willing Draco bloody Malfoy in front of him and his brain was blissfully shutting down. Was Malfoy...well...Harry had to admit, even in school he’d noticed Malfoy was attractive. It was part of the reason Malfoy had always annoyed him in school, that someone with such gorgeous packaging was so rotten inside. Draco had changed though. He could still be a prick, but the gentle way he took care of Teddy, the way he watched his mother protectively when he didn’t realize Harry was watching, the satisfied way he’d smiled when he’d finally figured out the muggle coffee machine Harry had bought home one day. Gods...how long had he wanted this and not admitted it to himself? Harry decided his usual blundering ahead without thinking had gotten him this far...might as well go a bit further. Harry pulled Draco closer and slid their lips together, he’d expected it to be awkward, it wasn’t. He felt Draco press closer, arms tightening around his neck and it just felt so ridiculous and...right. All the fighting, all the tension, all the pain, leading up to this and maybe that was ok. Perfect in fact. Harry had a brief and very casual fling with Jason(who?) a mostly forgettable bloke from his Auror training class but it hadn’t lasted long. Now Harry knew why. Jason’s kisses had felt nothing like this, hadn’t made Harry’s heart feel like it could pound out of his chest.

        “I never thought..” Gasped Draco as they pulled apart briefly.

        “Me neither…” admitted Harry. They met each other's eyes and laughed together, a happy almost relieved sound and for a second the lust was replaced with something that fed the loneliness in them both. Their lips met again and the heat rose. Harry felt himself get backed up against the bed, books unceremoniously shoved onto the floor, followed quickly by Harry’s Auror robes and Draco’s pants and black jumper. Harry felt like his skin was on fire everywhere Draco touched, and when Draco’s mouth wrapped around him he almost came right then from the teasing. Draco looked up Harry’s body, a more familiar glint in his eyes, he could feel how on edge Harry was.

        “Not yet.” Draco proceeded to tease until Harry could barely remember his own name, the git seemed to regain some of his confidence by turning Harry into such a mess and Harry found he just didn’t have it in him to mind. Finally, Draco decided that Harry was as ready as he was going to be. For a second he hovered there above Harry, their eyes locking once more, then Draco slid into him, capturing Harry’s gasp in a deep kiss as he slowly began to move. It didn’t matter that an hour ago they were yelling at each other in the kitchen; all the fights just felt like foreplay now.

        “Draco…” Harry groaned, nails dragging against Draco’s pale skin, causing Draco to move faster. It was more than Harry could stand, and when Draco reached between them to fist Harry’s cock it pushed him screaming in pleasure over the edge. Draco soon followed, his face buried against Harry’s neck as he rode out the pleasure.

 

+

 

        Narcissa had a lovely afternoon, she really should have done this sooner. Dealing with her son and Harry had been stressing her out more than she had realized. She had spend part of the day in Diagon Alley, spending way too many galleons on clothes she knew Teddy would soon grow out of but she couldn’t resist. Then she’d apparated them to a park near Grimmauld Place and shed sat on a swing, Teddy in her lap and enjoyed the sunset before walking home with him. She hoped she’d given the boys long enough to deal with their problems.

        They were there in the sitting room when she went looking for them. Certainly, they didn’t seem to have murdered each other while she’d been away, in fact...well...she can’t she was surprised but she hadn’t realized they’d admit their feelings for each other so quickly. Draco had is hand in Harry’s and the two of them were bent over a book, Draco pointing out a passage and Harry nodding and smiling.

        “Draco, Harry.”

        “Oh!” Harry startled and the book fell to the floor. All of a sudden he didn’t seem to know where to look. “M..Mrs. Mal...Black. Narcissa”

        “Harry dear.” Says Narcissa, the look in her eyes nothing short of wickedly amused, “I see you two have come to some sort of truce?” Her son seemed to take pity on Harry and interjected into the conversation, giving Harry time to recover his composure.

        “I know it seems rather sudden mother but Harry and I have talked, at length while you were gone. It seems we’ve had feelings, or at least, an interest in each other, for some time but until now, had not realized. I don’t see the need to rush the formalities but perhaps in about a year or so an announcement can begin and we can start planning.”

        “Draco...do you mean to say…?”

        “Yes, Harry has asked me to marry him. We spoke, and, honestly at first I was shocked but he wants us to be a family.” Draco smiled, one of his real smiles. Looking happier than she’d seen him since before the war.

        “Harry?” Asked Narcissa, she knew he could be a bit foolhardy at times, most Gryffindors were, stereotype or no. The boy's face was an odd shade of pink and white and purple, a bit like he was possibly choking on something. Draco, concerned, started to pat Harry on the back firmly.

        “Oh, Erm..well...yes and then we...well I did, family...erm. Yeah. Marry.”

        “Don’t try and talk Harry dear, tea go down the wrong pipe? Happened to Bella once, crazy bint never drank tea again, no wonder she went mad. Breathe now.” Said Narcissa, while Harry seemed to be slowly remembering how to breathe. Poor thing must be nervous. The Potters were an old family, but it was hardly Harry’s fault he had grown up with Muggles, not that she despised Muggles but it probably left him uncertain in how wizarding marriages worked. She smiled at him warmly, he had his faults certainly but so did her son. They suited each other. She sat down, pouring herself a cup and proceeded to explain a bit about wizarding marriage customs, hoping it would calm his nerves somewhat.

 

+

 

        Harry meant to tell Draco that night, that he hadn’t been asking him for marriage, but between Narcissa’s lecture on customs, Draco’s smiles and his body still confused by truly excellent sex it had just never seemed...the time. He meant to tell Draco the next week, but the Aurors were working a big serial murder case and needed the trainees’ help sifting through heaps of evidence. Harry came home exhausted every night, well after Teddy was tucked in bed. Sliding into Draco’s bed, feeling Draco’s arms around him, seemed the only thing chasing the nightmares away. Nightmares triggered by the crime scene photos. Maybe he'd try the next week, but that had been no good. Draco had opened up to Harry about some of the horrors he'd experienced while Voldemort had taken over his home, told him how betrayed he felt by his father, about his intention to take his mothers surname.  He’d tried to tell Draco the next month, but Teddy had managed to catch dragon pox from another child on a play date and given his unique genetics, metamorphmagus mother and werewolf father, it seemed to cling harder and last longer. It took constant effort to keep the young boy from scratching and making it worse. He’d meant to tell Draco when they celebrated their sixth month anniversary. He’d started to, but Draco had beat him to it with a confession of his own, he’d been freed of the unbreakable vow. Harry had grown just as good as Draco at caring for his growing godson, and Teddy certainly wasn’t lacking in people who loved him, Draco said it had happened months ago but he’d wanted to wait till their sixth month anniversary to celebrate. At around eight months Harry stopped trying to tell Draco because he'd fallen in love with him. On their year anniversary the Prophet announced the engagement of Harry Potter, to Draco Black. It was front page news of course . Some enterprising reporter had managed to get a photograph of the elusive couple, smiling and holding a laughing boy with bubblegum pink hair, while Narcissa Black watched, looking bemused.


End file.
